Anyone seen any recent footage of the Pope? My Dad says

[hedgehog]

he's not looking very perky these days.

[Matilda]

1. I saw a bit of the World Youth Day mass in Madrid

on the news last night, and I thought his voice was very shaky.

[hedgehog]

2. My Dad was suggesting that he had two men holding him up.

One of many bad things about being elected pope for life is it eventually brings on a death watch. I'm very worried about the next Conclave since the School of Cardinals has been packed with John Paul II/Benedict XVI clones. I'm afraid the beatings will continue until morale improves!

[Matilda]

3. I must make a point of looking very carefully next time I see him on TV.

That used to happen with the former Soviet Premier, Leonid Brezhnev, in his last years. He was past it, but hanging on like grim death, and on the rare occasions when he ventured out in public, there was a goon either side of him, very close, and it was said they were holding him up. Sure looked like it.

I've heard - but can't vouch for the truth of this - that JPII, about ten years before he died, signed a paper saying that if he were ever unable to carry out the "petrine functions" adequately, he wished to retire. In other words, if he wasn't in a state to make the decision, somebody should carry it out for him.

It didn't happen, of course, and I have a suspicion that it was Ratzinger who was really ruling the roost during those last years. That was when JP became more and more reactionary, making his statement against female ordination, promoting Opus Dei and taking a hard line with anyone who had a contrary opinion. As Benedict is now travelling down exactly the same path, I have a feeling that JP just didn't know any longer what was going on, and Ratzinger was the power behind the throne. JP never seemed to have such a big problem dealing with women – it was he who allowed girls to serve at the altar, which Benedict is now trying to pull back – but Benedict, I think, does have big problems regarding women. Two different personalities, but they seemed to merge during JP's last decade.

It's like the joke that I first heard a while ago – when John Paul was elected pope, his first words to the world were: "Do not be afraid". Benedict's first words were: "Be afraid; be very afraid".

[47of74]

11. Bets were being taken on Benedict's successor right after his election

Paddy Power was taking bets on Benedict's successor less than a day after Benedict's election. Back then the top six were Scola 6-1, Schonborn 7-1, Maradiaga 7-1, Bergoglio 9-1, Arinze 10-1, and Tettamanzi 25-1

Now according to their site the top six are Arinze 7-4, Turkson 6-1, Scola 6-1, Maradiaga 8-1, Bagnasco 12-1, and Bertone 14-1.

Of course a lot of times those who go into conclaves as Pope leave as Cardinal. It didn't happen last time but could happen the next time.

I think the best we can hope for is that whoever wins turns out to be more liberal than expected - someone who kept his head down and toed the party line until he was in an actual position to do some good.

[Matilda]

12. I only know of Arinze and Bertone.

Both solid hardliners, in the style of Benedict.

I suppose they all are; JPII set it up that way.

[UrbScotty]

14. Ages

The only way Arinze becomes pope is if Benedict dies before November 1, 2012 - that is Arinze's 80th birthday, and he won't be able to vote in any conclave after that. For Bertone the cutoff date is December 2, 2014.

Scola turns 70 this November, Bagnasco is 68, Rodriguez Maradiaga is also 68, and Turkson will be just 63 on October 11.

http://catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/scardc3.html

[Brigid]

4. I saw some of World Youth Day too.

And I don't think he was looking too good either. That shuffling walk is not a good sign.

[hedgehog]

5. I've seen seniors get re-hab for that shuffling walk and regain

quite a lot of vigor. It's too bad for Benedict - he's so powerful no one around him will tell him he needs help!

[Brigid]

6. So have I.

I can't believe he's not getting better care than this. :(

[rug]

7. He's old and on an exhausting schedule.

[UrbScotty]

8. Video from earlier this year. Looks fine for 84 years old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXbitO9vZvA

Has no trouble climbing the steps or walking around in this video.

By comparison, neither John Paul II nor either of my grandmothers were in such physical form anymore when they were 84.

[Matilda]

9. What hedgehog said.

Each time he walked up the steps, the two men beside him (deacons? acolytes?) not only helped lift his robes out of the way, they each had him firmly under the arms and were obviously lifting him so strongly that he almost flew up the steps. He definitely wasn't walking up those steps under his own power.

I read somewhere that during his four-day visit to Germany this month, he will undertake 28 engagements. I find that a bit of a worry for anybody his age.

[UrbScotty]

10. Yeah, it does look like he's being helped up the steps. But he's walking under his own power.

And not at a slow pace for an 84-year-old.

[47of74]

13. My grandpa was working on his farm up until a year ago

Grandpa's 88 years old. He got sick last year while out in the field in the tractor and since then he's pretty much finally retired. We've had several scares over the past year with him but he and grandma are in an assisted living place now and I hope they both still have some good years left.